Shopping is sometimes referred to as “retail therapy,” as many people believe that buying things, especially new clothes, can make them feel better.
However, whatever good feelings you might get from shopping typically don’t last long – but the clothes you bought do. The more you shop, the more these new articles of clothing pile up in your closet and drawers.
But that’s okay because you can just donate your slightly used old items or drop them off at your local thrift store, right?
Clothing has become the fastest growing category of waste, so unfortunately, neither donating or recycling provides a fix to the growing textile waste problem.
Because the volume of discarded clothes has become so overwhelming, even foreign nations now reject our used stuff. So, about 85% of donated clothes end up in landfills, either locally or overseas.
Once dumped into landfills, textiles containing synthetic fibers (which is most clothing) don’t biodegrade well, and toxic dyes and chemicals leach into the soil and contribute to global water pollution.
As for take-back programs, only about 1% of items are actually made into new clothes. Recycling is difficult or impossible because most clothing today is made with blended fibers. When it comes to cotton and wool, the recycling process weakens the fibers, so any new product is guaranteed to be inferior.
Worse, take-back programs reward you with coupons or discounts on future purchases, encouraging you to buy more clothes.
So, how did we get into this mess?
It’s largely due to “fast fashion” – or the fashion industry’s response to the Western world’s incessant demand for abundant, cheap clothes.
Fast fashion retailers produce too many inexpensive, poorly made clothes. And because of their low price – and questionable quality – they’re considered disposables.
And if you’re not wearing what industry says is the latest style, it’s easy to feel inferior. Yet styles change so quickly – just walk into any popular fast fashion store, and notice how the merchandise changes each time you visit.
So, what’s the solution? Care what you wear.
Why Should You ‘Care What You Wear?’
The $3 trillion-dollar global clothing industry is built on destructive agricultural and exploitative labor practices, as well as pervasive advertising campaigns promoting this week’s newest style.
Consider these statistics:
- The global apparel industry has become the second-largest industrial polluter, second only to oil, with more than 11 million metric tons of textile waste going into U.S. landfills each year.
- It takes 5,000 gallons of water just to manufacture a T-shirt and pair of jeans, robbing that water from lakes and rivers in communities already threatened by drought conditions.
- Cotton is now the world’s single largest pesticide-consuming crop, using 24% of all insecticides and 11% of all pesticides globally, which is having nightmarish effects on soil and water. The production of one cotton T-shirt uses one-third of a pound of these chemicals.
- Nearly $40 billion is spent on the pesticides sprayed on crops worldwide. Half of those are classified as “hazardous,” with five of the most commonly used pesticides considered probable carcinogens.
- More than 60 different chemical classes are used in the production of yarn, fabric pretreatments and finishing, and anywhere from 10% to 100% of the weight of the fabric is added in chemicals during manufacturing.
- About 40% of globally used colorants contain organically bound chlorine, a known carcinogen that can be absorbed through your skin or inhaled when the item is worn.
As you can see, every clothing purchase you make has a ripple effect not only on your health and the environment but also laborers around the world.
And as a consumer, you have the power to perpetuate a toxic model that puts your health at risk, degrades the soil, pollutes and wastes water, and exploits laborers worldwide.
Or you can use your money to help steer the fashion industry away from this toxic model, to one that is responsible, ethical and regenerative.
The “Care What You Wear” campaign is a movement through Regeneration International to fight back against these degenerative and harmful practices and instead support organic and regenerative farming, responsible production and fair labor practices.
Caring what you wear means you are selective with your purchases. You buy fewer clothes that are timeless, high-quality and long-lasting – clothing that you feel really good about wearing.
Why Healthy Clothing Equals a Healthy Body
Many people don’t give much thought to where their clothes come from or how they are made – much less all the chemicals used to produce them.
What you wear matters because your skin can absorb up to 60% of substances it comes into contact with.
Once a substance passes through any of the five million pores on your skin (20,000 on your face alone), it enters your lymphatic system and bloodstream, and then travels to your organs.
If it’s a healthy substance, that can be a good thing. However, it’s not so ideal if it’s one of the more than 80,000 chemicals used in the U.S. that have never been fully studied for their potentially toxic effects on human health and the environment.
But don’t the chemicals used in the production and processing of a clothing item wash away, you might wonder?
Many chemicals are involved in the manufacturing of clothing – from farm to factory – including chemicals for bleaching, sizing, dying, straightening, fireproofing, mothproofing, reducing shrinkage, wrinkles and static, and resisting stains and odors.
In addition, some imported clothes are saturated with long-lasting disinfectants.
Research shows these chemicals can become permanently imbedded deep within the fibers of the garment. Some are applied with heat and are actually bonded with the fabric.
These toxic substances typically don’t wash out, even after repeated washings, which means they can remain on the surface and inside the fibers for as long as you own the article of clothing.
And when you wear the clothing item, these substances can give off gas vapors and release microscopic particles that may be inhaled or absorbed through your skin.
4 of the Worst Chemicals Used in Textiles
Of all the chemicals used in clothing manufacturing, which ones are considered the biggest risk to health – and the environment?
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Formaldehyde – A volatile organic compound (VOC) and “probable” carcinogen, according to the EPA and National Cancer Institute, formaldehyde is released by a resin used to prevent wrinkles and make items color-fast, perspiration-proof and permanent press.
In sufficient amounts, formaldehyde vapors can cause rashes, headaches, burning eyes and nose, breathing difficulties, coughing, sore throat, joint pains, nausea, fatigue and restless sleep.
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Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) – These man-made chemicals are commonly used to make fabric and clothing waterproof and resistant to stains and wrinkles. Just as it’s a bad idea to cook with chemical-coated non-stick pans like Teflon, it’s a bad idea to wear these same toxic chemicals.
PFCs break down very slowly and can remain in the environment – and your body – for many years after their release. Evidence shows they can harm your reproduction and hormones, immune health and even promote the growth of tumors.
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Glyphosate – If you wear anything that is non-organic cotton, you have likely come into contact with glyphosate residues. The non-organic cotton industry is the highest user of this herbicide – a “probable” human carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Often remaining on non-organic cotton, this toxic chemical (also found in Roundup) profoundly affects your mitochondria and can put you on the path to conditions linked to dysfunctional mitochondria, including metabolic syndrome, obesity, type 2 diabetes, depression, cancer and high blood pressure.
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Aldicarb – A single drop of this commonly used insecticide is enough to kill a human. Absorbed through the skin, it presents a danger to the health of farmers, neighbors, cotton pickers, fiber and garment makers, and you, the end user.
Even though it has been banned in 125 countries (including India), aldicarb is still permitted to be used on cotton crops in the state of Florida.
Not only do all of these substances present a direct threat to your well-being, toxic and carcinogenic pesticide residues flow into lakes, rivers and other waterways, harming plants and wildlife.
More Dirty Truths About Non-Organic Clothing
Did you know that nearly all regular (non-organic) cotton clothing is genetically engineered, or GMO?
One particular engineered variety is Bt cotton, which was introduced in 2002 by Monsanto. This biotech giant originally promised farmers Bt would produce its own internal pesticide, saving them money.
However, that didn’t turn out to be true. Farmers have been forced to use up to 13 times more pesticides with Bt than other types of cotton because of secondary pests that have emerged.
In short, Bt cotton has been an on-going disaster for small cotton farmers, especially those in India. At least 80% of cotton grown today in each of the nine cotton-producing states of India continues to be Bt cotton.
A study looked at the long-term impact of Bt cotton on soil organisms and found it is having a serious negative impact on the beneficial enzymes that make soil fertile. Total biomass of the soil was also reduced by nearly 9% in the areas studied.
The human cost of non-organic, conventional cotton production has been enormous.
Besides the estimated 20,000 people dying each year in developing countries from pesticide exposure, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is also a link to developmental concerns and birth defects in children as well as the weakening of immune systems.
That’s not all… Farmers have lost countless livestock to illness and death after grazing in Bt cotton fields.
Plus, there’s the tragedy of gross human rights violations and child labor in cotton-producing third-world countries. The cotton industry has become a modern form of slavery.
In Uzbekistan, the second largest cotton exporter in the world, one-third of the population – including children as young as 7 years old – must labor for the government-owned cotton industry with little clean water to drink, bare hands and no gear to protect them from the toxic pesticides.
Is ‘Sustainable Cotton’ Clothing a Better Option?
Because organic cotton supplies are limited worldwide, you must be very careful when buying an article of clothing labeled “organic cotton.”
In their attempts to capitalize on the growing demand for organic cotton, some major retailers teamed up to form the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) to create a new category called “sustainable cotton.”
The only problem is… this isn’t necessarily organic cotton. It’s often GMO cotton.
These large brands are doing what’s called “blending.” They’re using organic cotton with non-organic, GMO cotton in the same garment.
While some of these companies may want to do the right thing, this kind of labeling can confuse customers and lead them to think they’re getting something they’re not.
So, how can you be sure what you buy is truly organic cotton?
Just as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets standards for organic food, Global Organic Textile Standards, or GOTS, provides third-party certification for the organic textile industry.
GOTS oversees the growing, processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, trading and distribution of all textiles made with at least 70% certified organic fiber.
Like organic food standards, a textile product carrying the GOTS Organic seal must contain a minimum of 95% certified organic fibers, while one with the “made with organic” label must contain a minimum of 70% certified organic fiber.
GOTS-certified textiles must be produced without conventional cotton’s pesticides, genetically modified ingredients, formaldehyde, chlorine bleaches, heavy metals or other chemicals not approved by organic standards that may be detrimental to humans and the environment.
With the GOTS certification, you don’t need to worry about adverse effects on the environment from your clothing. And you don’t need to worry about harmful residues that might threaten your health.
Buying certified organic cotton means you don’t need to wonder if it’s the “real deal.” GOTS has done the work to guarantee it.
Biodynamic® Cotton – Think Organic but Better
While organic cotton is a significant improvement over conventional cotton farming, biodynamic is even better.
What is “biodynamic” cotton?
In a class of its own, biodynamics is a holistic, ecological and ethical approach to farming.
Certified by Demeter, biodynamic agriculture is a step above organic in that it considers the entire farm instead of individual crops and products. It requires the use of holistic regenerative farming practices to promote the health of the soil, crops and livestock.
Biodynamic includes everything that is Certified Organic and builds from there. For example, the production of Certified Organic cotton…
- Prohibits the use of toxic chemicals.
- Does not allow synthetic pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.
- Requires the use of natural composts and manures instead of chemical fertilizers.
- Prohibits the use of GMO seeds and growth-promoting hormones.
- Requires crop rotation to minimize effects of monoculture (the farming of a single crop) and to maintain soil health.
For cotton to be Demeter Certified Biodynamic®, we need to add…
- Everything used on the farm is recycled back into the land.
- Livestock supply the fertility for the farm, and all the feed for the livestock is grown on the farm.
- To provide biodiversity, at least 10% of the land must be reserved for other organisms.
- Farmers must observe the lunar calendar to sync cultivation with plant cycles and moon phases.
- Preparations of herbal composts and manures are required.
- It uses spray-free, holistic pest and disease control, meaning it prohibits any and all use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, hormones and GMOs by encouraging balanced predator-prey relationships the way nature intended.
All of these principles together form the foundation for biodynamic farming.
The Journey from Conventional to Biodynamic Cotton
Converting over to biodynamic from conventional cotton farming requires both time and effort. Farmers must abandon old toxic, harmful practices and learn new methods to grow and harvest cotton.
“In-conversion” is the transitional period during which a farmer moves from conventional into biodynamic farming. Spanning a three-year period, the cotton produced during this transitional period is called “in-conversion biodynamic cotton.”
During this conversion period, farmers…
- Focus on remineralizing the soil and growing cover crops.
- Start using natural fertilizers instead of synthetic fertilizers and GMO seeds.
- Receive training on organic methodologies and principles.
- Implement all the practices required to achieve organic certification.
- Are audited annually by certification bodies as per international organic agriculture standards.
By leaving the land in better shape than they found it, farmers are increasingly recognizing that protecting – and improving – soil health can be one of the greatest solutions to climate change.
The First-Ever GOTS-Certified, In-Conversion Biodynamic® Cotton Clothing by Sito™
Sito, also known as Demeter in Ancient Greek religion and mythology, was the goddess of the harvest and agriculture.
According to Greek mythology, Sito presided over the fertility of the earth, the sacred law and the cycle of life and death.
In honor of what we’re trying to accomplish with biodynamic cotton, regenerative agriculture and fertile soils around the globe, we have named our line of in-conversion biodynamic cotton textiles Sito™.
Our Sito™ women’s apparel line includes the purest cotton essentials needed from your morning workout to your evening out, including dresses, leggings, underwear and a sports bra.
Through the Sito™ line of clothing, we are helping 255 Certified Organic farmers in India convert to biodynamic production of cotton on 566 acres of land. Biodynamic farming is organic by nature, but it goes even further, operating on the premise that the farm be regenerative and entirely self-sustaining.
Breaking with the dominant model of agriculture is not easy and comes with many challenges.
Every time you make a purchase from our clothing, bedding or towel lines, you’re taking a stand for in-conversion biodynamic cotton and regenerative agriculture while also supporting these farmers.
From Field to Fabric: 6 Steps to Our In-Conversion Biodynamic® Cotton Textiles
Now, you can embrace sustainable living with our entire line of GOTS-certified In-Conversion Biodynamic® organic cotton apparel.
From farm to finished goods, our transparent manufacturing process speaks to the fine quality of our Sito™ In-Conversion Biodynamic® textiles:
- Extra-long cotton fibers grown from specially selected seeds are hand harvested in South India by biodynamic farmers, 50% of which are women.
- The cotton is ginned, cleaned and compressed into bales for ease of handling and protection from contamination (60% of the cotton plant goes back into the food stream for dairy cows and cotton seed oil).
- The longer, tensile-strength fibers are carefully spun into yarn and woven into luxurious fabric on spinning machines in GOTS-certified factories. These longer fibers allow the cotton to be spun into a durable single-ply thread that can be woven into a softer, finer fabric with less pilling.
- 100% pure cotton fabric is dyed in a natural, neutral palette using nontoxic, sustainable, low impact dye for vibrant, long-lasting color.
- Made locally in Southern Tamil Nadu, India, these single-origin textiles are cut and sewn into beautiful Sito® In-Conversion Biodynamic® textiles that are as strong as they are soft.
- After manufacturing, a natural, environmentally friendly, a GOTS-approved enzyme echo-wash is used to pre-shrink the finished product and to give it a luxuriously soft feel.
Beautiful, Lasting Color Without Heavy Metals, GMOs, Formaldehyde, Azo Dyes, Bleach and Phthalates
Just like our In-Conversion Biodynamic® Organic Cotton sheets and towels, every Sito™ clothing item is dyed using low-impact and fiber-reactive dyes for lasting color with the lowest environmental impact possible.
A low-impact dye is a dye that has been classified by the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 (an international certification process) as eco-friendly.
Generally, low impact dyes do not contain toxic chemicals or mordants, chemicals that fix the dye to the fabric. They also require less water and less rinsing than conventional dyes and typically work at lower temperatures.
Fiber-reactive dyes are low-impact dyes that bond directly with the fibers. Using low-impact and fiber-reactive dyes provides several benefits:
- They contain no heavy metals, formaldehyde, GMOs, chlorine bleaches, acetone, or other potentially dangerous substances.
- Colors are brighter and richer, and are wash-fast.
- Better for the environment because of less wastewater runoff and energy savings.
This earth-friendly dying process requires less rinsing and has a high absorption rate in the fabric, which translates into less wastewater. With this process, there’s less than a 5% runoff into the environment, compared to 60% for regular cotton.
Upgrade to Sito™ Apparel – Purely Created by Nature, Tenderly Harvested by Farmers, Mindfully Worn by You
You’re careful about what you put in your body, and the clothing that touches your body is just as important.
When you purchase any of our Sito™ In-Conversion Biodynamic® Organic Clothing items, you receive high-quality apparel that won’t harm your body as well as the assurance that you are supporting cleaner air, water conservation efforts, improved soils and a better life for farmers.
You embrace cotton taken seriously and comfort without compromise.
While we’ve made sure our prices are as reasonable as possible, one thing is for certain:
We can’t compete against the cheap fast fashion flooding the country on cost.
Choosing in-conversion biodynamic cotton clothing will cost you more, but isn’t your health and the planet worth it?
Our pledge to you… comfort, quality and smart design at a reasonable price.
Feel the inherent softness of cotton and nothing else. Start shopping now to find your favorite Sito™ In-Conversion Biodynamic® Cotton Clothing today.